Would aluminum be ok to use to build a lift kit?

 

I just dont want to add too much weight to my ute.

 

Also would it work if i did a 4" body lift and 5" suspension lift?

Aluminum is roughly 1/3 the weight of steel. It is also about 1/3 the strength of steel. If you use aluminum and actually make it lighter than the steel equivalent, you should seriously consider getting an experienced engineer to design it for you.

Aluminum is roughly 1/3 the weight of steel. It is also about 1/3 the strength of steel. If you use aluminum and actually make it lighter than the steel equivalent, you should seriously consider getting an experienced engineer to design it for you.

 

aluminum is way lighter than steel, it is considerably softer but I highly doubt that its structural strength is that much weaker than steel. But then again I only weld the crap together, I'm not a metalurgist.

www.sjrlift.com

I just dont want to add too much weight to my ute.

 

 

there wont be much weight difference, your tires and rims will make a big difference in weight , remove the doors and youll loose 100 Lbs.

yes you can make it out of aluminum

 

no you won't notice the weight difference.

i was just planing on geting some 4" X 4" solid aliminum and cutting the spacers nessary to lift the crossmembers away from the body and using steel for strut top extensions etc because i can weld steel and have the aproperate certificates to weld what is needed to pass what ever scrutitany nessary to be legal

this is for my brumby/brat

you'll probably spend less money doing everything with steel, with aluminum blocks you'll need to find bolts that are long enough and those will get spendy, where as steel is quite a bit LESS expensive than aluminum and the cost of hardware will probably be less. I dont know about Oz, but you probably wont be needing welds n crap inspected. honestly its much easier with steel, although if you have any experiance casting you could probably make some pretty decent strut tops out of aluminum.

well my dad is a qualified pattern maker and my mate works at a industrial shop

the bottom line is that aluminum will work, but its so much more expensive than steel that it offsets any gain in lightness. after all, you might not save even 10-15 lbs. thats 2 gallons of gas. you would spend twice as much on aluminum over steel, and you'd save some weight, but not anything worthwhile. its just not cost effective.

 

~Josh~

aluminum is way lighter than steel, it is considerably softer but I highly doubt that its structural strength is that much weaker than steel. But then again I only weld the crap together, I'm not a metalurgist.

Oh, then how do you know this? You can be assured that my numbers are correct by looking in any engineering textbook.

you can get some pretty hard core aluminum out there, say... aircraft grade :cool:

but you end up spending.. more than the cars worth there.... you might as well get a 24'x8'x6' block of aluminum and mill is out into a new brat they do it with airplane skins/stringers etc...

the byb kit on my car was one of the first hybrid steel aluminum kits.i have aluminum lift blocks and steel strut tops/ shock mounts.it works fine.i don't know about the cost effectiveness of doing it yourself.but you might get ahold of byb seeing as how they are over "there" and compare .however,you seem to have a couple of connections at the right places that could afford you a bit of material for nothing maybe?and well labor is going to be yours.if you build it ,you will come..............

yeah well it may not happen now that my ute has been stolen(see post in older gen)

Theres four ways I kno of making lift kits.

First: soild alloy blocks, very popular. (btw Brumby Boy, I got a quote for enough to do a 2" kit on a MY for around $70.)

Second: Square steel tube, with the bolts going through round tube inside it. You will want 4mm think with that.

Thrid: Cast alloy, like sjr, some think its do fragile and will break, others use it with no problem.

Fourth, soild steel blocks.

 

With soild alloy, you will need a tool, like a electric haxsor, to cut it. Angle grinders just dont cut it (lol.)

 

I have the square steel tube style, but I want to replace it with soild alloy. Although, for $30 I can get the soild steel.

 

Oh, and for you metal guinness. There is different grade alloy. And each grade is softer and lighter, or heavier and tougher, then the other. There's no set weight. After all, its just a mix of other metals...

My problem with aluminum is that most types work harden, that is they become more brittle with each hit they take. If a bolt comes loose, it's a matter of days before that block cracks and gets spat out. Also, the stronger the aluminum, the more brittle it is to begin with.

I would use steel square tube, with a re-enforced bolt hole, I use sch. 40 weldable steel pipe on frame penetrations I do on my trucks, and I believe it would work well for the bolt through the square tube. I would also cap the ends, to add to the structural rigidity of the square tube. Use class 8.8 bolts, they are soft enough to take a shear load and not break, anything higher is brittle and can break. It would kinda suck to take a corner and have the subframe drop because of sheared bolts-

The weight difference isn't enough to be worth it, I'd concentrate more on reducing inertial weight and unsprung weight, since that's where the performance is.

Scorpion kits use alloy spacers[100% legal in aus 2" max though]so do byb.